No abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to use the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) as a screening instrument on a specific population with a marked prevalence of binge eating disorder (BED) and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS). The EAT-26 questionnaire was used in order to identify the high-risk subjects for referral to clinical evaluation. Method: EAT-26 was administered to 845 subjects who, for the first time, came to the Nutritional Medicine Service looking for a diet between January 1999 and December 2002. From this initial sample, subsequently, 250 subjects were randomly selected and administered a semistructured clinical interview for DSM-IV (SCID I, version 2.0). Results: Discriminant analysis provided a cutoff value of EAT-26 ¼ 11. Logistic regression analysis indicated high Dieting (D) or Bulimia (B) subscale scores as a risk factor of EDNOS or bulimia nervosa (BN) cases, respectively; on the other hand, a high Oral Control (O) subscale score represented a protecting factor for BED cases. Conclusion: Our study tried to assess the usefulness of EAT-26 as a screening instrument for obese patients attending a Medical Nutritional Service. Results from this study suggest that a cutoff score of 11, lower than that indicated in the literature, improves the diagnostic accuracy of the EAT-26 in a high-risk setting regarding sensibility level (68.1%) and leading to a reduction of the false negative rate (31.9%).

Results showed altered self-body representation in BN, but not BED patients, as the neuropsychological consequences of posterior parietal cortex dysfunctions.

This study may demonstrate the efficacy of psychoeducation group treatment for BED and EDNOS patients.

Research has evaluated cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy for the treatment of binge-eating disorder (BED); other therapies, however, have received less attention. The aim of our research was to analyze the efficacy of two group therapies for BED patients: analytic psychotherapy and psychoeducation. The psychotherapeutic intervention consisted of group-analytic psychotherapy of 14 sessions over a 28-week period; the group psychoeducational intervention involved 10 sessions over a 10-week period. The Eating Disorder Inventory-2, the 16-Personality Factors questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 were used for psychometric assessment. Two follow-up assessments were performed after 6 and 12 months, respectively. At the end of treatment, most patients were without eating disorders and had a lower rate of binge episodes. The psychoeducational group patients improved markedly in alexithymic traits related to the ability to describe feelings. At follow-up, most patients were still without eating disorders and had few binge episodes. Although psychoeducational group patients confirmed the amelioration on alexithymic traits, analytic psychotherapy group patients showed a trend toward an improvement in personality traits related to the ability to be at ease when communicating with others.Binge-eating disorder (BED) was first described by Stunkard (1959) in a subgroup of obese patients who usually engaged in recurrent binge-eating episodes. However, only recently has this disorder received empirical attention and is currently included in Appendix